Jul 15, 2020 2 min read

A recent op-ed by Dave Ball in the Observer-Reporter comes to the conclusion that the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will be controlled by a committee if elected. The author chooses the term “committee-president” to describe this scenario. The writer suggests that Biden will be “answerable to an unelected committee of leftist overlords.” And then the writer’s fantasy keeps rambling on … including insinuating that illegal aliens will get “free” citizenship. (No, citizenship is a carefully vetted, time-consuming process.)

The last time I checked, the executive branch of the federal government consists of the president and vice president, plus some 15 executive departments (State, Treasury, Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, etc.). This “committee,” also called the Cabinet, provides useful advice to the president on many complicated issues. It’s always been this way. It’s a good thing. Then there’s President Trump. Certainly he does not rely on the expertise of his Cabinet as much since Trump is a self-proclaimed genius. Who needs expert advice when you have a sagacious king as chief executive? This is a king who weekly issues executive orders, frees felons and tweets ad nauseam. 

The Pandemic Task Force is a committee. Except it’s a dysfunctional Trumpian committee. Why pay attention to health experts? Just make up your own COVID-19 lies, take some hydroxychloroquine, and one day the virus will just all go away. 

With regard to the 2020 presidential election, a committee will decide the outcome. This committee will consist of American voters. We will have to decide whether we want to be governed by a president who can listen to a committee of experts, or one who narcissistically believes he has absolute power, total authority, and can do whatever he wants.

In my opinion it looks like Trump thumbs-down. And we won’t even have to tear down his statue.

Ray Doperak

Peters Township